Can you help us to raise the funds to deliver much needed warm outerwear and second layers to those in need in Greece?

Riders for Refugees with support from ridewithlocal are collecting snowboard/ski jackets + second layers in five European cities that will then be delivered to refugees & the homeless by the end of January. We need your help to collect enough funds to complete this humanitarian odyssey. The closing date for the fundraiser is January 5th, 2017. The jackets can be send to pick-up points from the 5th-20th of January.

We will be documenting the journey & providing regular updates from the trip as well as filming a short documentary to be released on our return.

Keep reading after the image for more details about the project…

Riders for Refugess - Jacket Drop Greece

WHO IS BEHIND THIS?

Danny Burrows

Photographer, writer, philanthropist from the UK. Former Onboard Magazine Snowboard editor, now working as a freelance writer, photographer and spends much of his spare time for humanitarian causes. He startedRiders for Refugees in 2015. Danny is the main organiser, driver and photographer of the mission.

Riders for Refugees was founded to create awareness in snowboard community and incite riders to become more involved in the refugee cause. This is the second jacket drop mission after last winter’s in Calais. Thanks to Riders for Refugees, pro riders and everyday snowboarders are banding together to help out refugees who have left their dangerous and uncertain situations at home to seek assistance and safety.

Alexis de Tarade

Filmer, writer, activist from France. Former editor of Method Snowboard Magazine, founder of The Better Bottle Project, now working full-time at ridewithlocal. Alexis will be in charge of filming during the mission and his ability to speak fluent Greek will facilitate operations once in Greece.

ridewithlocal, a P2P platform first of it’s kind helping action sports travelers find local instructors and guides. The company is dedicated to improving local areas through social programs & environmental actions.

Keep reading after the image for details of the operation…

HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO THIS?If we can reach our goal we will rent a van from London and make our way through Europe stopping at pickup points in the UK, Holland, German and Austria to fill the van with as many jackets as possible. Brands, individuals and professional riders alike have already reached out and started to collect jackets. We want to get the jackets down as soon as possible so we are doing a short crowdfunding campaign of only about 2 weeks. If the crowdfunding is successful by Jan 5th we will invite everyone to send their jackets to the pick-up points. After 2 weeks of jacket collecting, we will hit the road and pick them up!

Keep reading after the image for the schedule & funding details…

WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE?

Jan. 22nd- Depart from UK (London) Pickup point – location TBA

Jan. 22nd – Holland (Amsterdam)Pickup – location TBA

Jan. 23rd – Germany (Munich) Pick-up – location TBA

Jan. 24th – Austria (Innsbruck, Zillertal) Pick-up – location TBA

Jan. 25th – Austria (Vienna) Pick-up – location TBA

Jan. 26th – Arrival in Athens

Jan. 27th – Boat to Lesvos

Jan. 28th – Distribution of jackets

Jan. 29th – Boat to Athens

Jan. 30th – Return to London

*We will release the exact dates and locations as soon as the minimum amount is collected so that the jackets can be sent or dropped off.

WHAT IS THE MONEY GOING TO BE USED FOR?Here are our costs and different possible variations of the mission:

COLLECTION COSTS (Main Mission + Documentary):

800euros – Van Rental + insurance (10 days)

750euros – gas + tolls London – Athens

750euros – gas + tolls Athens – London

400euros – Ferry to Lesvos

1000euros – food + hotel – 100euros a day expenses (10 days)

TOTAL: 3700euros ($4000)

1500 euros ($1650)- MINIMAL MISSION (Drop & Go)- If we can collect this amount we will still do the mission, but it will be a direct drive down with minimal pick up mounts (max 3), leave the jackets with an association to be disturbed for us and we drive back. 5 day mission – no documentary.

2700 euros ($3000) – BETTER MISSION (Athens Distribution) – 4 pick up points (No Vienna)- We will distripute in Athens for 3 days to homeless and refugees with associations. Allows us to take a bit of time on the way down to gather more jackets at more stops. 7 day mission – social media video updates.

3700euros ($4000)- MAIN MISSION (Lesvos Distribution) 5 picks-up points, homeless distribution in Athens, we take the ferry to Lesvos to stay for a day to meet with associations and give all the jackets out to refugees in person. 10 day mission + documentary.

4000 euros ($4250) – ULTIMATE MISSION (Visit Vasilitsa) If the operation is a bigger success than expected and we complete the MAIN MISSION we will stop for a day of snowboarding in Vasilitsa, Greece to give out some jackets to local riders and ride with them. This will add some great riding footage to the documentary to show that Greece is also a great tourism location for snowboarding. This will also help us make the mission into a feature in a major snowboard magazine!

*All extra money will be used to buy supplies like gas tanks, batteries and food to help the other associations on site to do their amazing work with the refugees.